Paving the saves: The binding tissues of Dahha, Hall forming unique goalkeeper pathway for 'Caps

Over the years, there have been plenty of goalkeepers coming through the Whitecaps FC BMO Academy System that have gone on to make the jump to the professional level.

As you can see from the table above, that's a lot of goalkeepers.

These keepers have shown their abilities at the professional level. For the majority of these players, a main figure that helped them develop at the beginning of their respective journeys came in the form of Whitecaps FC BMO MLS Academy goalkeeper coach Raegyn Hall.

Entering his 14th year as a goalkeeping coach with the organization, Hall has played a key role with the majority of these goalkeepers - Latendresse-Lévesque, Sylvestre, and Thomas worked more closely with former 'Caps coach Mike Salmon. For the rest, Hall has seen them progress through the 'Caps youth ranks and helped provide them the tools to succeed in a professional environment.

"The biggest part of my job is to make sure I can set them up with as much success so when they go into a training session or a game that they feel comfortable and they can adapt as quickly as possible" explained Hall, "I try to support them in the environment and they are the ones that are the catalysts that make it work."

Hall has continued to stay in contact with his former players and has been a keen follower of their progress as they continue their careers, something that fills him with a lot of pride.

"I'm just really happy for them, I'm really proud of all the work that they've done, I'm just so happy to see them continue to grow, develop in the game and have success in the game. It's really exciting to stay in contact with them. It's a really proud moment to see everything that they've put into it and see them get the rewards that they've earned."

Since 2019, the 'Caps goalkeeper pathway has been led to the tutelage of first team goalkeeper coach Youssef Dahha, renowned as one of the best at his craft in Canada.

Most recently, Hall and Dahha have been working on the latest crop of 'Caps Canadian goalkeepers, which includes first-teamers Thomas Hasal and Isaac Boehmer, as well as BMO MLS Academy keeper Max Anchor.

Throughout the past four years, the pair have identified the trio to bring them into the professional ranks and push their potentials, with Dahha describing it as one of the most meaningful projects of his career.

"With Thomas, Isaac and Max, it's a very young group and I want to build a culture of younger goalies to continue what Raegyn did [in the Academy]," said Dahha, "Of course, it's difficult because in the professional world we need the results, but for me I want to develop and have results too, so this is a way I can do both."

"They're all so driven, they're so focused, they're also really good people which makes it easier to work with them. It's been really good to see them moving forward," said Hall.

When looking to help improve the trio as well as their academy goalkeepers, Hall and Dahha will sit down to review videos of goalkeeping techniques and how they may implement new ways of teaching their players to help them continue progressing in their careers.

"I think it's about constant communication and trying to set them up for as much success as possible," said Hall, "We just try to set the goalkeepers up to be as successful as possible, so giving them the most broad skillset. I think that the relationship we have is good and it's all about communication and having an understanding of what the first team is looking for to provide that."

For Hasal, he's noticed how much of an impact Hall and Dahha have had on his career.

"I think each step has made me grow immensely, working everyday with Raegyn I took a massive jump and again taking a step up from the academy game to the first team and getting to work with Youssef, I made another massive jump. Both have made me grow immensely."

Looking ahead, Dahha believes the work he and Hall have done could not only lead to great things at the club level, but also internationally as he aims to have the trio represent Canada in the coming years.

"The picture is not only the club, it's the country too. Next year, for the U-20 World Cup we'll look to help Max go there. Thomas is a project for 2026 so I'd like to see him fight for a spot in the national team, as well as Isaac while we look to help him become an MLS goalkeeper," explained Dahha.

The list earlier in the article could continue to grow as the pathway formed between the binding tissues of Hall and Dahha has shown it could lead to many opportunities in the professional game.

"I think it's really exciting for these goalkeepers to see that there's a real pathway to the first team, with Youssef giving young goalkeepers opportunities," said Hall, "It's really exciting for people to see that there is a pathway in the Whitecaps for young goalkeepers to be successful and get an opportunity."

"[The development of our goalkeepers] really says something about the academy, about Raegyn, about Youssef and how good they are," explained Hasal, "To see us constantly churning out goalkeepers shows how good they are and just shows that they know what they're doing."